Archive of the History of Medicine

Table of contents

Who we are

The Archive of the History of Medicine is a research institution. Its aim is to store records and collections with medico-historical content properly and make them accessible for the academic/scientific research.

The Archive of the History of Medicine was founded in January 2003 as part of the Institute of the History of Medicine of the University of Zurich. It combines collections and personal papers, which have their origin in the 1920s, with the new bequests from medical personnel and other institutions.

Access to archival materials

Please contact the Archive before visiting either via phone or email to make sure it is the right source for your questions and that the requested materials are available.

The Archive is generally accessible and free of charge. With the exception of exhibitions, originals cannot be loaned. All items can generally be accessed on the premises of the Archive of the History of Medicine. However some documents may be restricted because of data privacy acts, special requirements of the donors or restrictions due to conservational treatment.

The Archive has a reading room with two workspaces and UZH-WLAN (Authentication)

For more information regarding the access to archival materials please contact us by email

Copies

Users may make copies with a digital camera but without using a flash or another artificial light source. All other digital copies of documents can be ordered in limitied quantities and are subject to charge. For details, please contact us by email.

Requests for scans and copyright permissions

Archival holdings

The collections and personal papers cover cover the period from the 17th to the 20th century. The main focus lies between the last third of the 19th and the first half of the 20th century. The picture collection goes back to the 16th century. Personal papers of medical professionals mount to far more than institutional records. Thematic focuses are: psychiatry, neurology and ophthalmology. Newer collection areas are woman in medicine and alternative medicine in the broadest sense.

The earlier collections from the 18th and 19th century have been grouped by topic. The biggest groups are the lecture notebooks and manuscripts. Alongside these groups are bound manuscripts of case histories and medical formulas. Regional focal points are Zurich and Switzerland.

Team and contacts

Donations

The archives inventory keeps expanding according to our guidelines. Generally speaking, we are interested in your donations.
If you would like to bequest materials from a personal inheritance or single objects to the archive, please fill out the form “How
to donate” and send it to the archive management. Please do not send us materials and single items without contacting us first. (The return costs would add up and be considerable.)

Acceptance and indexing of private archives will go forth according to a set rules of the Archive of the History of Medicine. Once it has been decided to accept the planned gift/donation, there will be a donation contract to regulate all the details. For further details please contact us via email